Socio-demographic portrait of external migrant in the Republic of Karelia in 2022–2024

When forming migration policy at different levels, it is necessary to take into account many factors, consider the specifics of the territories involved in the migration process, and systematically study the socio-demographic characteristics of migrants. The aim of the study is to compile a socio-demographic portrait of an external migrant in the Republic of Karelia in 2024 in comparison with its key characteristics in 2022. To achieve this goal, the authors identified the main characteristics of the socio-demographic portrait, and made a comparative analysis of the «portrait» of an external migrant before and after the start of the special military operation. The main research method was the statistical analysis of such information sources as scientific literature, data from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), as well as reports from the Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Karelia (RK). The authors conclude that in the context of the changing foreign policy situation caused by the Russian Federation’s special military operation in Ukraine, the volume and flows of international migrants to the Republic of Kazakhstan are changing. However, the main parameters of the socio-demographic portrait of the international (external) migrant remain the same as before the pandemic and the beginning of the special military operation. The Republic of Karelia on the whole repeats the all-Russian trends related to the external migration of the population. Due to the fact that part of the region is part of the Arctic zone, there is an active inter-regional migration of the population: from Karelia to the central and more southern regions. This trend raises the question of the effectiveness of government policy in supporting residents of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The most dynamically moving groups of the population are people of working age, women with higher education.